As the industry evolves into a more legitimized market, we see the hucksters and charlatans coming out of the woodwork to separate the fools from their hard-earned cash. It is easy to see why they do it….because they can.

Unsuspecting good people who want to understand how they can be a part of the industry are willing to open their wallets up to those who they believe have the knowledge and experience they are looking for.

Unfortunately, there are a series of half-baked nitwits who have come together to pretend they are experts, and who talk a good game with absolutely zero experience or accomplishments to back them up. They will gladly tell you what you want to hear to get you to cut a check. They will have a fancy website that talks circles around the industry with no reference to even one actual client who they have helped, or dispensaries they have opened.

Enter “The MedMen” consulting group.

I had never heard of this band of idiots before last week. I had seen their name on some over-hyped and non-believable press releases floating around, and I assumed they were another group of spinsters who were trying to make their nut in the cannabis industry giving half-cocked and ill-conceived advice to unsuspecting wannabe cannabis moguls. But I did not pay them much attention because, honestly, there are a dozen of these ass-clown groups trying to get attention with bogus press releases and “we are so great” hyperbole these days. It is hard to keep up.

But then last week I get a call from a kid named “Brian.” He wants to have his “boss,” Adam Bierman, join us at the Massachusetts Cannabis Knowledge Forum. He is fishing for more publicity for his scam and believed that his guy was worthy of educating people on the cannabis industry at the MCKF.

I politely tell him that we have already booked speakers, and that the advertising was already done. I also let him know that we were doing an activist panel at the end of the events if he thought his boss was an activist. His response?

“Yeah. Adam was on a panel in Vegas. He is an expert. We have helped open licensed dispensaries all over the United States.”

Now I am intrigued. As a person who has worked tirelessly for years helping people get licensed dispensaries open, and who knew the challenges that presented, I asked him a simple question….”Which licensed dispensaries are you guys responsible for opening?”

It was a more than fair question. I expected them to pop off with some random groups in Arizona, which I would hope to contact to verify; but instead his answer was something far more insane.

“Los Angeles. We have opened several in Los Angeles,” said Brian.

I very nicely (holding back my laughter) told him, “There are no licensed dispensaries in Los Angeles at this time. Nor has there ever been a competitive application process there.”

“Yes…Yes there are,” he quivered. There are 130 pre-ICO collectives….”

I reminded him that the simple registration in 2007 was no application process and was actually deemed illegal in a court of law. It was forms that were filled out by anyone and everyone and resulted in chaos in LA for the past several years until this very day. There were STILL no licensed shops. What the election in May did was ban all dispensaries but gave an exception to those who registered before the illegal moratorium in 2007.

But these guys are the experts, right? Why should I be telling them this?

I inform this kid Brian that he is misleading people in his explanation of these vague accomplishments with no names to back up those claims. Here is where it got weird.

The kid says…”Oh yeah. well suck my dick. You will never be successful anyways.”

I break out in uncontrollable laughter. I have NEVER been on a business call and had another supposed grown man tell me to suck his dick.” It has just never happened…and I have had some VERY heated business conversations in this industry.

But the dude just broke. He had no answers for his lies, had been called on his shit, and just broke. The best he could come up with was “suck my dick.”

After I got done laughing I attempted to contact his boss, Adam Bierman, to see why the hell he would hire such amateurs to do his bidding. I sent him an email, and tried to call the number listed on their fancy website of platitudes. when I call the number an the Brian kid answers again.

“MICKEY?,” he answers.

“Yeah.”

“What do you want?”

“I would like to speak to your boss, Adam,” I reply.

“He read your email. What do you want me to do?”

A little peeved at this point I respond, “A fucking apology would be nice.”

The kid does not miss a beat and says “I fucking apologize” and hangs up on me.

I did not know if I was mad, or so amused by the situation that I could not even get mad. I felt bad for them. It was like they had never really been questioned about their accomplishments before. I cannot imagine some unsuspecting idiot getting snow-jobbed by these hucksters without at least asking, “Have you helped anyone actually open a licensed dispensary before?”

It seems like a natural first question, but either a.) they really have no clients and are using the one illegal dispensary this kid opened a few years back as their “model”; or b.) they had the world’s stupidest clients who just threw money at wannabe consulting groups without doing any homework on them.

I am going with a.), myself….

But this is indicative of what we see happening all over the industry. People are coming out of nowhere to sucker good folks out of their money for services they have no clue of how to provide. The MedMen are just one of many charlatan groups who have decided to jump on the get rich quick at someone else’s expense bandwagon. The reason this dude was calling me to get a speaker spot on the event is because he NEEDS exposure to make his scam happen. He NEEDS to be relevant. He is not on his own. Check his bio:

Adam has become an industry leader and expert, featured on Fox, ABC, Playboy Radio, KTAR and The College Times. He has applied his knowledge of the medical marijuana industry to build The MedMen, which is the first consulting firm of its kind, providing turnkey opportunities for dispensary operators in Southern California. Having proven a model, Adam expanded The MedMen into other areas of the United States, providing state and city-specific services to dispensary operators. He is concurrently President of The MedMen’s parent company, Modman Enterprises, a branding and marketing firm with a focus on health and wellness related industries.

Became an industry leader and expert how? And for that matter, when? I have been here for a long long time doing this and had never even heard of the dude outside of his own overblown press releases. He has applied his knowledge of what? Where is this proven model? How come we cannot talk about it? Turn key opportunities for which dispensary operators in Southern California?

Do they have one person who is willing to step up and say that they helped them and did a great job? Last I checked, there weren’t any “turn key operations” in So Cal. It is still a free-for-all legal battle that has been shaped by court cases and bad planning. LA has no ordinance that licenses dispensaries. San Diego has no ordinance licensing dispensaries. Orange County has no licensed dispensaries. Who exactly are these turn key operations you speak of?

The dude’s bio, which is where one showcases their talents and accomplishments, only further opens the door to more questions. The only accomplishments and credentials he can list are that he opened MedMen consulting. Beyond that, it is a pretty slim resume it would seem.

But do not just take my word for it. A short Google search reveals a harsh reality. Here is what the Ripoff Report wrote about Adam Bierman in one of his previous hair-brained schemes called “Brand X”:

As I hope you see from the facts below, The Brand X Group is as ethical as Enron. Truly, really Adam Bierman is a genius with words, like Hiter before him, he can rile you up to believe anything he says. Past the fast talking, you need to ponder and think about what people have been saying about this man. A boy with no character who runs an ethically bankrupt business which is reflected by his way to get/save as much money as he can. This is probably the third report on Adam (who was previously COO at a company called XTS). With his trusty sidekick Andrew Modlin, now apparent COO of Brand X, they will market anything you want, but you’ll be wasting your time. None of them are ever effective, and to be associated with this marketing firm is a liability for any company.

A real consultant is not out fishing for business. They generally have more work than they can account for and are turning down opportunities. Their business does not come from fancy press releases or media stunts…it comes from word of mouth from people who recommend their services based on past success and experience. They have a resume and references to give you that verifies they know what they are talking about. They have succeeded already, and have no need to lie about their accomplishments because they are all there to see. They are happy to discuss their accomplishments because they are real and verifiable. They also do not tell you to suck their dick if they cannot answer a question.

But if you fail to dig deep enough, or are swayed by the pile of misinformation and misleading bullshit of a real-life huckster, then do not be surprised when you blow some cash learning a valuable lesson. This industry is full of people who will tell you what you want to hear to make a buck off of your hopes and dreams. It is up to you to verify people actually know their shit.

So before you head down the yellow brick road to failure and disappointment, do your homework. Ask for references. Talk to people who your consultant has helped in the past and make sure they are legit. If they are, their clients should have no problem telling you that they did a great job for them. If you are looking for a good consultant, do not do a Google search or contact the guy you saw quoted in some press story. Find a person who has had success with a consultant, and ask them who they used.

Or don’t, and be the fool who is soon parted with his money. The choice is yours really.

But fair warning…..If it sounds too good to be true, and is not backed up by verifiable fact, chances are you are getting took.

Very good article and assessment of what is going on. Con men like those in your article are just as bad as the politicians and lawyers raping those in the industry. Those pukes of MedMan aren’t even old enough to know anything about the plant, it’s uses, the culture or anything else.

What is going on the the MMJ business is nothing less than a bunch of political lies. Here is what needs to happen; de-schedule totally, remove cannabis from government controls totally. GTFO of our lives and business. No more damned laws about something the know nothing about.

How is it that guys like this end up on the MMJ Business Conference’s “Industry Experts,” but we can’t get a speaking slot for a single cannabis testing executive?

I met a MedMen sales rep in Vegas…let me just say, I’ve heard door-to-door proselytizers with a better sales pitch than these clowns. They should really give floss out at these industry events, the amount of shit they try to force into your mouth is insane.

I was recently in contact with medmen. My initial contact with medmen was when Brian (mentioned in article) took my phone call. He didn’t have a lot of information, but was pleasant, and he put me in touch with William. William was seemingly more helpful from an information stand point, and arranged a call with a guy named Lance. Lance stated that he was working with a few dispensaries that were listed for sale. Lance and William were very vague in the relationship Lance has with medmen.

I indicated, along with my business partner, an interest in having acquisition discussions with the dispensary owners. Lance and William requested documentation of liquid assets, and we sent documentation of $1mm cash. At that point William sent their fee agreement whereupon we would pay medmen $25,000 for nothing more than an introduction to a maximum of two “locations for review”. There would be no guarantee that the locations were truly listed for sale, let alone that they met our investment criteria.

There was no way we were going to pay $25,000 to this organization. I encourage people to do thorough research before engaging any consultant. There are negative write ups online about Adam Bierman. In fairness, I have never spoken with him. William seems to be a nice guy. Having said that, my experience and my gut tell me these guys are scammers.

I shouldve listned to this article. As marijuana is becoming legal in Il there are limited resources on getting in the business besides these clowns on how to get started. So with nowhere else to go I paid for there “courses” listed on thier website..BULLSHIT..these idiots could not answer half of the questions the attendies were asking..they literally answered I Dont Know to more than half the questions asked.Their best advice was educate yourself on the internet websites such as Leafly.com..DO NOT GIVE THESE SCAMMERS YOURE MONEY..I LEARNED THE HARD WAY..u wont leave with shit but a notebook tote bag and pencil with a weed leaf on them and few hundred bucks broker

I am from Chicago and recently attended a meeting with Adam Bierman. I did not attend or pay anything for the MedMen seminar that was occurring while I and my partner met personally with Adam in a separate room. He was very smooth and walked us through all the benefits of utilizing the MedMen services. MedMed would be our quarterback through the entire process of putting together our application. This would include all of the elements of security, location, dispensary floor plan, etc. Adam used a movie making scenario several times to paint the image of how MedMed would direct the movie that would eventually become our dispensary, scene by scene. I had not heard of MedMen before and was open to what they had to say. I was fishing for information, while keeping a cautious eye on the experience and credibility of Adam and his band of bandits. Our meeting was happening while a room full of people were getting a presentation on how to become credentialed bud-tenders. The red flags started going up as the BS started to overwhelm me. Who were these guys? Why would I put $50,000 into an account where they would draw from as the hours devoted to my case were spent. It was explained to me that there was no limit to those hours, and if exceeded, I would need to deposit extra funds over the $50,000. Talk about not having control. When I finally asked Adam about his own experience in the biz and to provide testimonials, I was disappointed (more red flags) with his response. “I have a couple dispensaries in California, and we are just now starting to work with clients. In fact, we have 6 Illinois clients right now.” Enough said, I was outta there.

Thank you for this, it was very informative. You seem to know your stuff. This might be unconventional, but I’ve been turning everywhere for advice and I just don’t know what to do at this point. I want to become a budtender, I just moved to LA from Illinois (where mmj was ILLEGAL when I left), so I have absolutely no experience, and I’m 24. I have a bachelor’s and have educated myself quite well (though, of course, there’s a lot more I could learn) about medical marijuana. In a few years, I want to go back to school to become a doctor (or, potentially, nurse practitioner) and be a prescriber of mmj. But HOW DO I GET INTO THE INDUSTRY?? If these classes are bs, and I have no friends or connections in dispensaries, how do I get started? I’ve pounded a lot of pavement, was supposedly “hired” twice (once I got notification that the place had shut down, the other time they started ignoring all of my texts, calls, emails… it was like hired one day, ignored forever the next). I was looking at medmen for a budtender class, but I am getting that that would be a bad idea. What would be a GOOD idea for me? Or, do people who want to get into the industry but don’t have friends on the inside have no options but to give up? Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!

There are some great options for education, including the world renowned Oaksterdam. I am working on a project called the Institute of Cannabis to provide training. (www.InstituteOfCannabis.com) and we are opening our first location in Massachusetts in a couple of months. We hope to expand to Chicago with our “Midwestern Institute of Cannabis” by the end of the year. There are good options available but there are also a lot of hucksters out there whose certification will likely get you laughed out of your interview.

I read your article and appreciate the information. As someone who is new to the business and eager to learn and develop, what or who would you recommend I should talk to in the greater LA area that is not s total scam?

It’s incredible how companies like this can sell the sizzle to media outlets and everyone else without anyone checking to see if it’s really all sizzle and no steak!
My partner found out that MedMen “consultants” charge upwards of $300 per hour, yet have been in the industry for less than a year. As their “About Us” section reads, Bryan is an assistant who is fresh out of college, but he talks a good game on the phone. With such a wealth of knowledgeable and experienced people in Southern California, who KNOW the business, you gotta wonder why they hire inexperienced people. How do they get away with charging $50,000 UP FRONT for an application? They exploit public ignorance!

I recently had the misfortune of speaking with these morons on three separate occasions during the MMJ application process in Nevada. They were extremely arrogant, dismissive, and refused to give specific details of any MMJ dispensaries they had actually been involved with. They wanted $50,000 for the honor of working with them! Unbelievable. Great article. Buyer beware is right. MedMen are a bunch of scam artists.

These people are a bunch of scammers. I should have read this thread before doing any business with Med men. Due to court process I am not able to go into details about this case, I had to get an attorney in order to try to recover my money. This is a warning to anyone that even thinks about doing business with Med men. One more thing Adam Bierman is a con artist and is the most dishonnest person I have ever met. Will have an update as soon as I resolve court issues.

What type of people end up on Rip Off Report? Real scammers! Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin are both listed with companies on RipOff “The Brand X Group” and “XTS Global” and they have former people who worked for them posting about their scams.

When you click on their former “successful adverting and marketing company,” The Brand X Group, it re-directs to a site with a giant penis! LOL! Their last Twitter post from The Brand X Group was from Feb. 2013 – probably when they stopped that marketing scam like their former employees said to start their new MedMen marijuana consulting company scam. https://twitter.com/thebrandxgroup

Also, there is this site called ModMan – it looks like it’s many of the same people as MedMen? It’s like they stopped The Brand X Group, created something called ModMan and then created the next company MedMen and starting claiming medical marijuana expertise. They have absolutely no client success stories on the ModMan site.

ABOUT THE MEDMEN – Below is from published and public press releases.
“The MedMen was founded by entrepreneurs Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin in 2010 as a spinoff and subdivision of their successful design consulting firm, ModMan Enterprises.”
• 2010 – really. Can’t wait for this to be fact checked! Successful design consulting firm? What are the revenues? And what happened to that successful marketing and advertising Brand X company? Where did that go?
“The MedMen guide potential business operators navigating through the licensing process and help current operators set up their businesses and optimize their success through almost every aspect, including real estate services, legal filings and compliance set-up, interior design, construction, security, staffing, online and offline marketing, graphic design, website design, and maintenance.”

• Who have they helped? Where are their clients and success stories?
“Currently The MedMen is busy helping would-be operators take care of the complicated application processes in Illinois after helping over 100 businesses open and operate across the country.”

• Helping 100 businesses – really. Who and where? Another fact that needs to be checked.

Amazing that the media keeps putting these people on TV without realizing who they are. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks for looking into these people.

The wiki article below says he represented over 70 professional baseball players. 70 “pro” players? If you had 70 pro baseball players you would not need to start a failed XTS Global and Brand X marketing firms and then a MMJ business when you “woke up one day an realized you were in the business” Direct quote from article.

And the Wiki article also says he also worked in a position as a “director of marketing in an international gaming corporation.” International gaming? Really?

The great thing is the Wiki page is it captures who wrote all the text — the MedMen. LOL. I just screen grabbed all of this. Wait until they try and do edits on their bullshit and it captures it all.

Oh, and he touts all over the place that he went to USC and Brandeis University — his Linked-in resume says he has a total of 1 year of college.

No mention on his Linked In Profile of his 70 pro baseball players or the XTS Global scam company — the defunct Brand X company is listed on his Linked resume which goes to a site with the big dick.

This guy has no education and his story appears to be one big tale, including how long MedMan has been operational. Any state where these guys are applying will be easily be able to find this information and fact check him.

Ok, now that we have some details on Adam Bierman, what about Andrew Modlin? He claims he has an art degree from UCLA from 2008. Apparently after he graduated, he worked for a total of 5 months as an intern (see Linked In profile) at two small companies before the major title jump to “creative director” at infamous Brand X Group with Bierman, which is now out of business, posted on Rip-Off Report and leads to the giant dick. From an intern to a creative “director” — more and more of a scam from these guys.

I spoke to medmen recently. I am interested in growing and selling in my state, and he had a lot of good things to say. Nearly 20 licenses for growing in Las Vegas and a million square feet of growing managed in California. I got off the call with a good feeling, but that turned bad when I spoke to another consulting firm. They told me that everyone who applied in Las Vegas got licenses to grow. Turns out medmen got zero dispensary licenses. They also got zero in Illinois. The next time I spoke to medmen they assured me that Illinois is still up in the air, so I let them keep talking. I looked into there “master grower” afterwards. Turns out he has never grown a single marijuana plant. How can they claim a million square feet if their “master grower” has no experience in marijuana?